As the fireman said:Don't book a room over the fifth floorin any hotel in New York.They have ladders that will reach furtherbut no one will climb them.As the New York Times said:The elevator always seeks outthe floor of the fireand automatically opensand won't shut.These are the warningsthat you must forgetif you're climbing out of yourself.If you're going to smash into the sky.

Many times I've gone pastthe fifth floor,cranking upward,but only oncehave I gone all the way up.Sixtieth floor:small plants and swans bendinginto their grave.Floor two hundred:mountains with the patience of a cat,silence wearing its sneakers.Floor five hundred:messages and letters centuries old,birds to drink,a kitchen of clouds.Floor six thousand:the stars,skeletons on fire,their arms singing.And a key,a very large key,that opens something –some useful door –somewhere –up there.